British Pool 2024 Day 1 A less than perfect day did not slow down Gabes' boys. They shot a spectacular 347, beating the second place Ace Holes by 11 shots! ( and the last place Smoothies by 34 shots!) The tournament was full of crazy bounces, bad luck and some bad play. for example, Cameron Smith shot 80! heck, he won The Open just a couple of years ago. And who is Daniel Brown? The author? I doubt it. And I also doubt he will be in the top 10 after Sunday's round. The most interesting side story was the play of Al's Dimpled Balls. The 5 competing had a score of 359, only one shot behind 2nd place? But, no, they are not in the pool. I will have a better write up after round 2, which will likely come out early Saturday morning. Hans Day 2 What a difference a day makes! Leading the field on day two was none other than Jack's Smoothies, at 358. Yes, this is the same group that shot 381 on Thursday. In keeping with the trend, 2nd place goes to Ikey's Heroes at 361. So what happened to our leader, Gabes? His Foreskins shot 368 and said good bye for the weekend to his hotshot youngster, Ludwig Aberg, along with MW Lee. both missed the cut. Here is the lineup for the weekend: Foreskins (Gabes) 4 still alive Pinseekers (Sobo) 3 Ace Holes (Hans) 5 Happy Hookers (andy) 3 Smoothies (Jack) 3 Red Foxes (Fox) 2 Hagen's Heroes (Ikey) 4 Mulligans (Mags) 3 Used Callaways (Chuck) 5 As for the main event, Shane Lowry continues his mastery at Royal Troon. The winds hit hard in the afternoon. I would say that the one variable that benefitted my players is that they all had late / early tee times on Thursday and Friday. Look out (again) for Scottie Scheffler. He is T4 at the moment. With the weather predicted to turn rough again Saturday afternoon, I have no idea what to expect (other than a bunch of lousy shots due to the conditions) As I write this early Saturday morning, the golfers have ditched the sweaters... for now. Love waking up and having golf already on! Oh, and I'll bet you are wondering how Al's team did yesterday. They shot 358 which would have tied Jack's Smoothies for first. And after two days, their 717 total would be second to Gabes' 715. Also, all 5 made the cut! So, Al, thank you for saving your $35. One less competitor for the rest of us to worry about! Enjoy the action on Saturday. Always interesting. Hans "I would say that the one variable that benefitted my players is that they all had late / early tee times on Thursday and Friday. " Huge factor I believe. Am not sure but it seemed like Justin Rose was the only player anywhere near the top of the board who had the early/late times. My two LIV "stars" who missed cut (Hatton and DeChambeau) both had early/late times. [Note: I heard on Saturday that Rose was one of only 10 who made the cut that played on the bad side of the draw. Not sure I hope Rose wins. He deserves it and it would be a good story. Fox Rose would be a good storyline. But he has a Major: U.S. Open outside of Philadelphia (one of many that Phil Mickelson could have/should have won). But how about Billy H? This popular, aging war horse has never won A Major ... He now stands on the precipice. And Daniel Brown? A qualifier for this Open ... Did I just hear that it has been 25 years since a qualifier slept on the lead? (Editor's note: Brown finished with a DB the last to drop him into 2nd place, one behind Billy H.) I was surprised to see Shane Lowery melt down the way he did. He was -1 through 7 holes, -8 for the tournament; that was this high watermark. Last 11 holes, he was a whopping +7. Only 3 off the lead, but he has to pass 8 golfers. In my mind, the winner will come from the top 8. I do not see Lawrence or Brown, at all. Billy H, Russell Henley, Justin Rose ... Maybe, but not likely. The champion will likely be Xander, Sam Burns, or Scottie Chuck: is your bromance ready to run with the big dogs? Is he ready to be The Champion Golfer and win his first major? Day 3 Timing is everything. That simple statement has proven to be true more often than not. And todays 3rd round at Royal Troon had a variety of weather conditions. Unfortunately for the leaders, they were stuck in the worst. Thanks to Al for his commentary sent a few minutes ago. We'll get back to Al later in the email. Our pool once again has a new daily winner! Chuck's Used Callaways shot an amazing 275. Not only are they the daily winner, they are leading the field going into the final round! It is a 3 team horse race for the cash. Used Callaways 1004 Ace Holes 1005 Foreskins 1006 everyone else can wait until next year.... As for the tournament. It sets up to be a fabulous finish. Andy's Hookers have no chance of winning our pool, but his golfer Billy 'Gator' Horschel is leading! I actually like his chances to win his first major. He has won the Tour Championship and is ready. Other contenders include the unknown Dan Brown. Does he know this is a major and he is supposed to be nervous? I see him taking selfies with fans coming in on 18. Chuck has Sam Burns one shot back. He has never won a major. Could it be his time? I'm pulling for Xander Schauffele to win his second major, having just taking the PGA. Sitting in 8th place is world #1 Scottie Scheffler, only 2 shots behind. And I would not be surprised to see Shane Lowry bounce back with a strong finish and win his second Claret Jug. Which brings us to the Dimpled Balls. Yes, Al's team that is not competing for the cash. They only had 5 starting.. whoa is Al. Well, the Balls had one of three players to shot 66 on Saturday - Russell Henley. And Si Woo Kim ACED the 17th hole on his way to an even par 71. (By the way, Kim hit a 5 iron. Scottie later hit it to 18 inches with a 3 wood!) Oh, yes, Scottie is also on this team. They shot 282, which would have tied for 2nd low for the day. And their 3 day score would have been 999, or 5 shots better than the current leaders. So, on behalf of Chuck and Gabes, we are happy you chose to sit this one out.... Enjoy the final round on Sunday. The final results will be late Sunday evening. I have a chance to play Olympia Fields tomorrow afternoon. Personal golf trumps The Open. Hans Day 4 The cream rises to the top once again. Xander Schauffele played a flawless 4th round and took the Claret Jug by 3 shots over Justin Rose. Xman's win gives me a Major Skin in the year long pool and his 65 helped the Ace Holes to a 12 shot win over Gabes' Foreskins and 16 shots better than Chuck's Used Callaways. I was able to watch a fair amount early in the coverage. The play, given the conditions, was very good. Justin Rose played well, Xander just played better. Same can be said of Billy Horschel. 68 was very good on round 4 for the leader going into Sunday. 65 was just better. The daily payout went to the Ace Holes with the Foreskins and Ikey's Heroes splitting second place money. Overall results: Ace Holes 1284 $154.35 Foreskins 1296 $74.02 Used Callaways 1300 $ 50.40 Jack's Smoothies cashed $22.05 Ikey's Heroes cashed $14.18 Sobo will figure out the year long results and let everyone know what they owe, or what they won. How did Al's Dimpled Balls do? Well, they had 279 on Sunday, which would have tied for 1st place. Add that score to the 999 going into round 4 and the Balls would have taken 1st PLACE. Al can find solace in the fact that his team is in 1st place overall for the year and Scottie has won lots of skins. Once again, Gabes, Chuck and I appreciate your decision to sit this one out. I would welcome any commentary. And I'll be back for the 2025 Masters to run the next major pool. Hans